


I would catch a grenade for you (though a grenade storm might prove to be harder to catch)

by Tabata



Series: Leoverse [42]
Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:51:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5944335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabata/pseuds/Tabata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie is practicing her magic as she waits to prove her worth to the Old Witch of the village who might accept her as an apprentice. But, as it always happens, things get out of control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I would catch a grenade for you (though a grenade storm might prove to be harder to catch)

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This story is an AU from the original 'verse. What happens in here has little to none correlation with what happens in Leonard Karofsky-Hummel VS The world or Broken Heart Syndrome. The characters involved are (mostly) the same, but situations and relationships between them may be completely different.  
> In this particular instance of the universe, Blaine is a man who used to live in Adelar, a small village that got ravaged and burned to ashes by plunderers years ago. He used to teach survival and fighting techniques to the kids there, but when the plunderers came he only managed to save a handful of them, and they escaped with only their lives.

The spell explodes on the ground like a grenade. 

Leo thought it was gonna be more colorful – maybe a bright red or an electric white, like lightning during a storm – but it's just a big noise and a lot of dirt coming up, exactly what a real grenade with real gunpowder would look like. It's impressive, if he thinks that Annie made it with just a flick of her hands, but a little underwhelming on the visual part. He's not gonna tell her that, tho. He's not sure his artistic taste has anything to do with how well the magic is performed.

“How was it?” Annie asks, emerging from the dust cloud that is slowly settling down.

Leo is already clapping his hands, a few feet away. “Powerful,” he answers. “It would have killed me if I were closer, right?”

“You can bet it would have,” Annie nods. “The power was calibrated to maim an adult man, so it would have probably dismembered you.”

Leo finds it a little worrying that she didn't bother to tell him that _before_ starting with the demonstration. He makes a face. “Please, keep the gore down,” he whines.

“You asked,” she says, chuckling. “And this was just a single one. I can do much more damage with a double-grenade.”

Leo is about to politely asks to see that too, as he cautiously moves a few more steps away from her, but Annie doesn't seem to need much encouragement. She's confident and she's excited, and she literally can't wait to show the world what she can do. The world, in this case, is the Old Witch who lives in the village and accepted to teach Annie all the spells she cannot learn by herself on the books. Basically, she offered her an advanced course in magic, but only if Annie can prove to be ready for it. Blaine has gone to pick her up at the village and they're gonna be back any time now. If Annie passes the test and the old lady accepts her as apprentice, Annie's gonna be away for at least six months, and that's a little upsetting because they've never been apart so long. But it's a great opportunity and Annie really wants this, so they're all going to be strong.

The double-grenade hits more strongly than the first, and in two different times. Even the dust cloud is bigger, covering both Annie and the house behind her from view. Leo frowns, trying to glimpse her silhouette. “Annie?”

“See? This way you can defeat a bigger target,” she explains. At first she's just her voice, then the rest of her appears behind the dust. “Or you can hit two different targets at once. I can even control both grenades separately.”

“That's really cool!” Leo says, and he means it now that he's safely away from the maiming-dismembering zone. “What if you have multiple attackers? You just cast a few double-grenades?”

“That would be risky,” Annie reasons. “After every spell I need a moment to recharge, and with multiple attackers that could be fatal. But I could spend a little more energy but be a little more efficient with a grenade rain.”

“And how does that work?”

“Like this.” Annie plants her feet on the ground, her hands move gracefully into the air, drawing lines and summoning powers in precise patterns. Leo watches her fascinated by the sphere of energy literally forming in front of his eyes. It rises in the air above Annie's head, and there it remains, pulsing, for a moment, before splitting into a thousand smaller spheres. And then something goes wrong. Not that Leo notices right away, but Annie's _Oh no!_ kinda give it away. He follows her gaze and sees the disaster she has already seen. Blaine is coming back with the Old Witch. They're both riding horses, and they're on the path of the thousands grenades.

“Oh no!” Annie repeats. Leo can see the panic in her eyes, but he also sees it change in a moment in something else. She frowns with resolution and then starts to run. Leo runs after her. He doesn't know what she wants to do, but it sounds dangerous and he feels the need to stop her.

“Annie! Where are you going?”

“I have to stop the grenades!”

“How?” Leo shouts after her. 

But she doesn't answer. She runs bended forward, her right arm straight along her side, palm down towards the ground. She murmurs something and the ground cracks open, forcing Leo to move to the left. The crack runs in the ground side by side with Annie until she moves her arm forward, as if launching it ahead of her. The crack takes speed and moves forward. Annie stops and takes a moment as her creation takes a life of its own, reaches the edge of the forest and opens in a huge crater. Leo sees Blaine's horse rear up, neighing. It's when both he and the witch see the rain of grenades coming towards it. Leo almost expects the woman to spring into action, but she doesn't even move. She only calms her horses, and puts a hand on Blaine's arm.

Leo turns back to Annie and finds her with her hands shaped like a bowl, her eyes closed, her lips moving. He's about to call her, to shake her, to scream at her to do something when a tower of water rises right from the center of the crater. Some of it fills the crater, the rest turns into a wall that absorbs the impact of the grenades. Those that don't impact against it, just fall into the water and dissolve. 

*

When Blaine and the Old Witch finally arrive – they were forced to ride around the crater – they find Annie sitting outside the house, a dreadful expression on her face. Leo sits next to her, not knowing what to do. She's sure that the woman won't want anything to do with her, and that Blaine will be angry too. And whatever Leo says to her, he doesn't seem to be able to comfort her. 

The woman gets down from her horse. Annie stands up and bows before her. And before she can help herself, she says, “I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't know what happened. I was practicing and–“

“Shut up,” the woman says. Annie closes her mouth. Leo looks at Blaine, but he doesn't seem inclined to get in the way of what's about to happen. “You used a very dangerous spell without any security measures and you lost control over it, putting my life and the life of your mentor at risk.”

“I swear, ma'am, I–“

“I said shut up,” the woman repeats. “And you clearly can't follow orders. But you showed quick thinking and found the perfect countermeasures that you knew wouldn't just contain your mess but nullify it. Not to mention that you did lose control of a spell, but of a powerful spell most of the children your age can't even think of casting.”

Annie looks up, unable to conceal the hope in her eyes. “Are you saying...?”

“I'm saying,” the woman glares at her, “provided that you learn to shut up when I tell you so, I'm willing to take you as an apprentice.”

“Oh, thank you, ma'am,” Annie says, jumping on the spot. She bows a second time, just to prevent herself from running to the woman and hug her tight.

“Now, please, offer this old woman some coffee, before we both leave again.”

Annie leads the woman inside the house. Blaine and Leo stay behind. “What's up, kid?” Blaine asks, looking at Leo's sulking face. “Are you sad because she's leaving?”

Leo nods, and then sighs. “I know this is a good thing for her, but I'm gonna miss her.”

“She's gonna be back sooner than you think, and she'll kick your ass and Adam's,” he jokes. “Weapons are good, but magic...”

Leo glares at him. “So, why are _you_ sulking?” He asks, noticing Blaine's dark face.

Blaine sighs and looks over to the forest. Part of it has been scorched by the grenades, and the crater is so big that they can see it from here. Not to mention the new lake that Annie so gently created for their summer day trips. “I was just wondering why to get you all ready to become good fighters, I always have to risk my life,” he answers.

“It must be some sort of punishment for something you did in your previous life.”

“Isn't raising you three punishment enough?” Blaine says. Leo just laughs – completely insensible to Blaine's pain – and drags him inside the house. If Annie's gonna be away for so long, he wants to stay glued to her for as long as possible before she leaves.


End file.
